The church often sends its members on charity trips overseas, James said, leading her to ask herself why they couldn’t do more work in their hometown.

During her time with the charity, James also has helped arrange events in which her co-workers volunteer for Habitat — she is a senior vice president and controller at the RL Worth & Associates commercial real estate firm.

James said she enjoys the satisfaction of seeing a family move into their first home, setting them on a path of financial stability.

“I get to see the home, I get to see the homeowner, I get to see the children, I get to see the dogs coming into the yard and know that they’re moving out of a bad situation, and they’re moving into homeownership. That’s why I help Habitat,” she said.

“I’m also financially minded, and they’re not throwing money away in rent anymore. … They’re building their own equity into a house.”

The homes that Habitat builds help improve San Antonio’s neighborhoods, James and Wiese said. Sometimes, Habitat tears down vacant, deteriorating apartment complexes to replace them with homes, they said.

Another accomplishment for James is helping to arrange what the charity calls “Joshua Builds” — events in which groups get together to build the walls of a new home, which are then shipped to a construction site. The events serve as a fundraising opportunity for the charity.

James comes out to help build homes a few times a year, she and Wiese said. She is on the charity’s finance committee and in the past she has served as its treasurer.

The cost of housing is a growing issue in San Antonio — about 153,000 families in the local area are in need of affordable housing, Wiese said.

Earlier this year, Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio completed its 1,000th home, Wiese said.

Since it was founded in 1976, the local Habitat for Humanity has built enough dwellings to house at least 3,578 individuals, according to documents from the charity.

It now has 97 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees. The charity is expected to build 47 homes this year.

All money donated is used for homebuilding, Wiese said. The charity covers its operating expenses by selling merchandise through the three Habitat Home Center stores it operates in San Antonio. It keeps the costs of its home down by using volunteers — about 13,500 people volunteered for the organization last year.

Habitat’s homes, which cost about $80,000 to construct, are built according to LEED standards, which means they are at least 15 percent more energy efficient than the average new home, according to documents from the charity. The homes also are designed to be accessible for people with disabilities.

The charity provides housing to low-income families who make between 20 percent and 70 percent of the local media income.

The families don’t get the home for free — they pay a roughly $1,300 down payment and an average of $550 a month for their mortgage, which carries zero interest and typically takes 20 to 25 years to pay off, according to the charity.

In addition, the families are required to spend 300 hours volunteering for the charity, helping build their home or the homes of others; the charity calls this “sweat equity.” They also spend between 15 and 22 hours in classes learning how to maintain a home and manage their money.

James, who lives on the North Side with her husband of 26 years, has been a San Antonio resident for nearly three decades after spending most of her childhood in Houston. Her hobbies are spending time outdoors — she likes to go on hikes in the Ozarks — and going to University of Texas at San Antonio football games. She has a 22-year-old daughter who is attending college in Dallas.

James recalled one of the most heartwarming experiences of her time as a volunteer. A man who would soon be getting a new home from Habitat showed her photographs of his boys. She assured him that his family would be in the home by Christmas.

“That was a beautiful thing, for me to realize that was what was going to happen,” she said. “He was going to get his own place with his boys.”